The Impossible Zorua
by ShinyTogeticFTW
Summary: Inspired by Lovesbugsalot's profile pic, which she said I could use in my cover art for this. The moment I saw bowtie Pikachu I thought of the Eleventh Doctor, and then Zorua became Clara in my mind. FYI these are Pokémon versions of Who characters, not Who characters that have been turned into Pokémon. Big difference. As such, this AU is actually canon-compliant. (I love those!)


The Impossible Zorua

Clara blinks awake, though she can't recall falling asleep. She is falling, however; falling through endless emptiness, her fur being whipped about by a fiery tempest. Except it's more than that. The searing winds surround her, engulfing her, and it feels like they are stripping her of her fur, tearing her into a million pieces to be scattered across the cosmos, throughout the entirety of time and space.

She doesn't know where she is. As far as she can tell, she might be everywhere at once. Suddenly she is standing in a vast plain and a plethora of Pokémon are rushing past her, moving so fast she can scarcely catch a glimpse of each one before they are out of sight: a Noctowl with gray feathers – a Whimsicott with streaks of different colors in the fluff on his back – a Cinccino with a ridiculously extensible scarf – a Wynaut covered in question marks – a Hawlucha whose wings flare out behind him like a cape – a dark blue pinstriped Meowstic sporting tufted hair – an Audino with a velvet coat – a comical Nuzleaf playing a leaf whistle – a Tyrogue with skin like leather – a Kricketune carrying a leek – a Pikachu wearing a bowtie. They all look different, but she knows all of them are him. The Doctor. There is only one thing she can remember, and that is that she has to save him. She turns in place as each of them pass by, reaching out her paw or else simply calling after him in an attempt to draw his attention, but to no avail. He never notices her. Well, almost never.

_Gallifrey  
A very long time ago…_

"Doctor?"

The Doctor pauses. Someone called out his name. His granddaughter, a Roselia named Susan, is waiting just inside the door of the TT Capsule they will be borrowing to make their bid for freedom from the stifling society of the Time Lords. The aged Noctowl places a wing against the doorframe and starts to turn around before he decides against lingering any longer and moves again to enter the ship.

"Doctor?"

My, but the girl is insistent! He turns fully to face the Zorua who is addressing him. "Yes? What is it? What do you want?" he snaps. He really must be going; this may be a repair shop (and therefore less heavily guarded than a TARDIS nursery), but the security alarm has already been tripped and they simply must get away.

"Sorry," the Zorua offers, her eyes bright despite the earnest expression on her face. "But you're about to make a very big mistake."

Ah. She's here to stop him. He might have known. He didn't expect the response team to come so quickly. He shifts his gaze and shuffles his talons slightly, trying to think of some way he could manage to depart soon enough that she won't have a chance to tether the Type 53 he intends to take before it finishes dematerializing.

"Don't steal that one," she tells him as, with a flick of her tail, she sits leaning against the side of the TARDIS adjacent to the one in which Susan is impatiently waiting to leave. "Steal this one." The Zorua then nonchalantly scratches the ruff of fur around her neck and continues, "The navigation system's knackered, but you'll have much more fun."

"Grandfather?" The Doctor turns to Susan when she calls him. "What's keeping you? Aren't we going now?"

"Come along, my child," he cajoles, reaching to place a wing at her back to guide her out and over toward where the Zorua sat, though she seems to have vanished since he looked away from her. "That TARDIS won't do at all; it is quite soulless. Now, this one over here…" He opens the door and ushers Susan in, looking around at the interior of the Type 40. "Oh," the Doctor breathes, letting his wing fall away from across his granddaughter's shoulders as he enters, gazing first at the round things covering the walls and then at the time rotor in the center of the room. "You," he says as he strokes the console, "are the most beautiful thing I've ever known."

* * *

**A/N: This story has potential for more to be added, but I'm not planning to do so _at the moment_. So, readers, let me know what you think of the overall premise here!**

**P.S. If anyone happens to know **_**100% **_**_for certain_ which classic episodes the scenes Clara's splinters are shown in were taken from in The Name of the Doctor, please tell me so I can Pokéfy them too! Beyond that, I suppose I could make up stuff entirely****, but for this fic to maintain its purported canon-compliance I'd rather stick to confirmed instances of her presence in the Doctor's timeline.**** I guess Asylum of the Daleks and The Snowmen are possibilities as well, though, and I will grant you those would be cool (pun not intended :P), but then again, do I really need another huge RE/MOD? Probably not; more than likely I'd be better off finally getting around to writing My Life as a Fob Watch instead.  
**


End file.
